1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to devices for charging an electric battery of a motorized vehicle, and more particularly to devices for harnessing wind energy to charge an electric battery of an electric car.
2. Background Art
As used here, the term “all-electric vehicle” refers to any motor vehicle that is powered exclusively by an electric drive train. Hybrid motor vehicles with a drive train powered by an internal combustion engine in combination with one or more electric motors are now common on our streets and highways, but public acceptance of all-electric vehicles has been relatively slow. The slow acceptance of all-electric vehicles is largely due to the limited driving range such vehicles are currently capable of on a single charge of their electric storage batteries. In addition, currently, there are relatively few places accessible to the public for recharging the batteries of an all-electric vehicle compared to the number of gasoline and diesel refueling stations; and, in any case, the time required to recharge the batteries is significantly longer than the time required to fill the fuel tank of a vehicle that runs on gasoline or diesel fuel. Driving an all-electric vehicle beyond its rated driving range and to a location that lacks suitable battery charging facilities would likely mean incurring the time and expense for tow truck assistance before the driver could be underway again. To avoid that fate, and to promote public acceptance of all-electric cars, it would be desirable to harness wind energy to help maintain some of the charge in the electric storage battery of an all-electric vehicle while the vehicle is being driven, as well as to charge the battery by harnessing wind energy while the vehicle is parked.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,886,669 B2 disclosed a method for harnessing wind energy to charge a system battery that powered electronic components of a stationary locomotive after engine shut down or while the locomotive was coasting under gravity with its engine shut down, such components comprising lights and on-board monitoring and display systems of the locomotive. An electric device, such as a motor that could be run in generator mode, was coupled to an airflow device that was rotatable by ambient air flow, and a controller was provided to enable the airflow device and generator only when some minimum rotational speed of the airflow device was detected. For instance, the airflow device was fan blades that, in a first mode of operation, could be driven by the electric device to provide cooling and, in a second mode of operation, harness ambient wind energy to drive the electric device to generate electricity, which electricity was conducted to the electric power load and/or to the electric storage battery of the locomotive.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,828,091 B2 disclosed an all electric vehicle that used an internal wind turbine generator mounted in the nose of the vehicle, compressed air and a high voltage battery to generate electricity to power the DC motors that drove the vehicle. When available wind energy was inadequate, compressed air stored in one or more air tanks drove an air motor coupled to an electric generator to generate electricity to recharge the electric battery and/or to power the DC motors.